HOW We Recommend Books & Movies Just for You | Arts & Culture

Title (Max 100 Characters)

Have you seen the Personalized Picks section on our website, where you tell us what you like and we create a list of book, movie and music recommendations just for you?

Oh sure, there are book recommendation websites out there, but their suggestions are generated using a computer algorithm, which means the connection between something you like and what is recommended to you sometimes doesn’t make sense.

At KDL, the picks we generate for you always come from one of us. People. Humans. Sentient beings. Like Marlys Davis, adult services librarian at the Wyoming branch. “It’s personal,” said Marlys, one of a handful of KDL staffers who manage the Personalized Picks section. When you fill out the form, giving information such as authors and books you have enjoyed and genres you like and those you don’t, someone on the Picks team plumbs the deepest recesses of their mind, sometimes with the help of the online reference database NoveList, and delivers to you — usually within 24–72 hours — a list of about a dozen others they think you would enjoy.

Those on the team know each other’s reading, viewing and listening tastes, which means if you like dark, rural American fiction, an action movie buff probably won’t be assigned to come up with your list of recommendations. But if you like, say, mysteries, literary fiction or books about books, someone like Marlys is “all over it,” she said. “It’s a collaborative effort, and it’s very fun to do.”